Paddle boat being prepped for Webster Lake

WEBSTER — Indian Princess, a 75-foot commercial paddle boat, has made it to Barrington, R.I., where workers are painting and preparing it for Webster Lake, owner Christopher Robert said.

Meanwhile, the state Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs has not yet revealed whether it will agree to limit boat size to 40 feet on the state-designated great pond and limit hours of operation for commercial vessels to daylight hours only. A citizens' group asked the agency in August to impose such restrictions.

A spokesman for the state agency has repeated in recent weeks that the request was under review. The state regulates activities on large ponds.

Mr. Robert, who owns Webster Ventures, plans to use the boat for weddings and lake tours before and after concerts at Indian Ranch. It is expected to arrive in early July, Mr. Robert said Thursday during a phone interview from Europe.

He said he did not expect the state to take action on the petitioners' request.

Richard Franas, president of Concerned Citizens for Webster Lake, which submitted the request, disagreed.

While Mr. Franas conceded he was "a little disappointed" by the state's inaction, he said the elevation of the request to Richard K. Sullivan, secretary of energy and environmental affairs, was reason for optimism.

Top environmental police and town officials toured the lake in early June.

Mr. Franas said his group enlisted help from state Rep. Ryan Fattman, R-Webster, state Sen. Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, and U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester.

Thinking the state was hesitant to act because of ambiguity in the law, Mr. Moore wrote a budget amendment clarifying that the environmental police would have explicit authority to regulate the size of watercraft and the hours of operation for commercial vessels on great ponds.

The Legislature, as of Sunday evening, hadn't approved a final budget. The new fiscal year begins Monday.

Town meeting voters in 2011 approved warrant articles that attempted to limit boats on Webster Lake to 40 feet and to exclude operation of commercial vessels from sunset to sunrise.

But in May 2012 the attorney general's office said the town lacked authority to adopt bylaws regulating boating on a great pond.

On June 24, Webster's Conservation Commission reviewed a request by Webster Ventures to install temporary services for the paddle boat.

Webster Ventures is seeking to put concrete blocks on the shore to hold the boat so it doesn't drift away, according to the commission's recording clerk.

Webster Ventures also seeks approval to remove wastewater from the boat and run an electrical power line to the boat. Its request also covers fueling operations and installation of temporary moorings, the clerk said.

The commission did not take action on the request. It said it wanted a detailed plan from Webster Ventures, which was informed it would need to file a notice of intent for the permanent facility for the boat, the clerk said.

At the urging of the citizens' group, the commission also voted that Webster Venture's work on the beach area, and 100 feet from it, is subject to the Wetlands Protection Act.

Mr. Franas, also a member of the Conservation Commission, recused himself, as did member Joseph Kabala, an advocate of Indian Ranch.

Mr. Franas asserts the boat is actually more than 96 feet from the tip of the gangplank to the end of the paddle wheel, too large for a 1,270-acre lake that's busy with kayaks, canoes, sailboats, power boats and pontoon boats.

He said the boat's 20-plus foot paddle wheel could churn up and spread weeds, which would be detrimental to the Webster Lake Association's efforts to maintain the lake and control invasive weed species.

Mr. Robert called the group members "irritants." They appear to be doing everything they can after the attorney general made its ruling, he said.

The 125-passenger boat, which Mr. Robert operated in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., is safe, U.S. Coast Guard-certified and licensed for waterways similar to Webster Lake, he has said.